Colorado insures nearly 68,000 more residents

Some Colorado residents can breathe a little easier. The state passed a law mandating that hospitals help cover the cost of insuring 67,500 people in government-sponsored healthcare, the Denver Post reported.

In return, the hospitals will be given funds from the state government to help care for patients who otherwise wouldn't have received medical treatment before, according to the Post. Not all hospitals were lucky enough to receive funding in return - only those who treat the most amount of in-need patients.

Randy Safady, Centura's chief financial officer, told the Post that "the state did a very nice job of trying to limit the losers. We have a number of losing hospitals and we have a number of winning hospitals."

Colorado governor Bill Ritter's Health Care Affordability Act is using hospital fees in order to match federal money received, the Post said. The state hopes to collect $1.2 billion each year.

The national healthcare reform law passed in March but close to 32 million Americans are currently uninsured. The full effect of the law is expected to be implemented by 2014.